'Shamubeel Eaqub is very difficult to pin down: he's a neoclassical economist adored by parts of the political left, an assiduous networker determined to take on the establishment and a talented empiricist who's not afraid to act as a cultural critic. In Generation Rent these contradictions collide with the Eaqubs – Shamubeel co-authors the book with economist and partner Selena – taking on the economic, political and cultural forces pushing up house prices and leaving an entire generation with no choice other than to rent for the rest of their lives.'

Greg Bruce in “Small towns: have the good times gone?” North & South (Aug 2015):

“Our conversations and attitudes are shaped by strange forces that are often beyond our control or ability to control.

At the moment, one of these forces is a single person with a vast and seemingly ever-expanding presence in the media: New Zealand Institute of Economic Research principal economist Shamubeel Eaqub.

His use of the term “zombie towns” in his 2014 book Growing Apart, to describe a phenomenon that academic demographers have been talking and writing about for years, generated such a furore that it has become and almost self-perpetuating story. The book, and more specifically the term, generated such a relentless cascade of media coverage…”